


Beneath a Moonless Sky

by classickylo



Category: Episode IX - Fandom, Love Never Dies - Lloyd Webber, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Force Awakens - Fandom, The Last Jedi
Genre: F/M, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kylo Ren is a Mess, Major Reylo, Minor Kylux, Motherhood, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Please Don't Hate Me, Pregnancy, Raising kids, Rey Just Wants to be Happy, minor damerey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-09-21 14:46:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17045654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classickylo/pseuds/classickylo
Summary: Following the Battle of Crait, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren sought to construct the first monument of his empire, the city of Phantasma.  A safe haven for Force-sensitives, the Supreme Leader accumulates the most talented users in the galaxy all in one place....all but one.Ten years later, Rey of Jakku finds herself in her most desperate hour and resorts to visiting the city. With husband Poe Dameron and child in tow, she flings straight from the arms of her past....and into the arms of her destiny.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I would like to note that you do NOT have to be familiar with the lore of Phantom of the Opera & Love Never Dies to understand this story. I simply wove their plot elements in a Star Wars-esque manner. If you are familiar with the two musicals, you'll just catch on to the twists a lot faster :)
> 
> Please note that the planet of Conee is completely off-canon.
> 
> Happy reading!

 

**_\--54 ABY--_ **

_Pity._

 

The swift fingers of Armitage Hux lightly traced over the baroque, obsolete balcony that overlooked the once shimmering city.  The few remote lights that existed among its skyscrapers were dulled by the rays of Conee's two moons, haunting the obvious absence of life that used to flood every inch of the area.  Dust caught within the leather that hid Hux's slender porcelain hands, and a scoff emerged from the tight set of his lips. 

 

 _Pathetic_.  

 

He can recall the millions of credits that the former Supreme Leader had demanded for the city's construction.  Gleaming buildings, hideously drenched in an atrocious shade of ruby.  An abundance of schools, filled with sweaty children eager to smear their foul religion over the galaxy when they came of age.  Libraries, stocked with insignificant histories of orders long past, seemed to inhabit every corner.  How fitting, that this place, intended to represent the lasting legacy of the most powerful Skywalker in history, would die along with its father.

 

"Phantasma, city of wonders... Kylo Ren presents _marvellous_ astonishments," he bitterly spat, "human prodigies."

 

For a man nicknamed "The Jedi Killer," it was strange to see Ren's vehement fixation on finding Force-sensitives and adding them to his city like a collector.  At first, Hux believed that Ren would further his plot to eradicate Force-users by putting the lot in one place and killing them in one fair swoop.  However, the Supreme Leader continued to integrate these people into laborers, medics, teachers...as if they were considered normal.  As if their existence wasn't an abomination, sickening the city with their ideologies and practices.  He couldn't believe that anything more horrific could be created than the city of Phantasma.

 

And yet...Hux had wanted it.  A sense of moral alignment arrived with the earliest days of its conception as he supervised the numerous machines that began building their towers from the ground toward the sky.  There grew to be a time that he didn't mind the tint of red in the buildings; he found occasional comfort, solace even, in his day-to-day ventures that weren't hindered by the limitations of a spacecraft.  Stepping out of his suite and witnessing random pedestrians salute and regard him with respect thrilled him to the core.  Seeing the Force-sensitives bow before him was a splendid sight indeed.  He looked forward most to the days that Ren would depart for reasons unknown, and Phantasma became Hux's to command.  It was Hux that met with investors and interested politicians.  It was Hux that developed infrastructure within the workings of the city.

 

It was Hux that accepted the request to carve a statue of the Supreme Leader out of ur-diamond, mined from the moon of Nothoiin, to be placed at the highest peak of the Imperial Palace.

 

He ran his gloved hand through the copper-colored hair that now fell in waves around his face.  It was necessary, letting himself go like this.  It didn't hurt to let his hair grow in this manner, but he was fervent towards keeping his face well shaved.  He wouldn't dare reach that level of primitivity while on the run.

 

A more observant glance out of the balcony revealed a much more morbid side to the glamorous tales of before.  Downwards from the glistening tops, any worthy spectator would note with alarm that the bottom of every known building was permanently charred with black.  For that, Hux blamed Ren.  Everything that went wrong with the First Order began with Ren's reign, after all.  The numerous secrets, unexplained behavior, and neglected promises only enraged Hux.  He never understood him.

 

He recalled the evening that brought Hux the closest to defeating him.

 

☾

 

 _Alone in the throne room of the Palace_ , _the eyes of the Supreme Leader froze onto Hux's holo, which was slowly displaying his most horrific treachery of all.  Fire rained down upon his younger self's shoulders as he murdered Snoke, their master, and then engaged in battle with the Praetorian Guard.  The Last Jedi refused to leave his side._

 

_"Do not think of killing me, Ren." Hux sneered, pausing the holo on the image of the two Force-users, backs pressed against each other, lightsabers ignited to fight to protect the other.  "I am not the only commander with access to your betrayal.  Seems your failure to destroy security cameras also brings your fall as Supreme Leader, if you desire to be seen aligned with Jedi scum."_

 

_Ren's attention stayed on the holo.  Hux couldn't read his expression, but he assumed it was filled by masked pain.  Embarrassment, perhaps, that his secret was discovered.  Or regret, possibly, in forgetting to tamper with security.  He never knew with Ren, but finally, here, his unexpectedness and spontaneous manner would finally end.  Hux's era of true order and structure would begin._

 

_He then spoke. "Five years.  Phantasma is yours." he murmured in that grave tone of his._

 

_Hux's eyebrow raised, and he abruptly shut off the holo. "I beg your pardon?"_

 

 _Those usually lifeless eyes, the shade of Bantha excrement, darted towards Hux's with a newfound intensity.  "You and your comrades will not say a word of this to anyone.  In exchange for your..._ faithfulness _...." his overly thick lips pursed, "I will grant you permanent command of Phantasma."_

 

_Hux was readying to quip back, but his soul tightened before he could open his mouth once more.  The ruby pillars of Phantasma and its people, all to himself.  Ruler of a city whose power challenged that of Coruscant.  Being its leader would overshadow any Supreme Leader._

 

_"You are willingly giving me the city.  Why?  Why five years?"_

 

_Ren's tall figure sat back in his throne, composed of smoothened Mustafar rock, and set his ungloved hands upon its arms.  He cocked his head to the side, those eyes boring into Hux's.  "Are you refusing my generous offer?"_

 

_"I-I.." The general stammered, appalled by the situation at hand.  He believed that he arrived with the evidence that would seal himself as the new head of the First Order, but now...now he was left with an even grander opportunity.  The chance to finally receive recognition for his efforts.  The chance to grow his influence and technology with the city's resources at his disposal.  The chance to build an army of Force-sensitives completely under his control._

 

_The chance to eradicate Ren's legacy...forever._

 

_"No, Supreme Leader." Hux's eyes glinted with happiness. "I am accepting it."_

 

_☼☾_

 

This land that Kylo Ren promised him--barren, filled only by ghosts of past-- was finally his.  Yet, all he sensed as he looked out that rustic balcony was the disgrace and resentment toward his prior errors.  Would the ruler of nothing still rule?

  
  
"Yes, there's nothing left, nothing but ghosts... But I knew you'd come back, Armitage."

 

Hux whirled around to face the imposter, his gloved hand instinctively reaching for the blaster hooked to his side.  Nothing was behind him, despite the cool air that pressed against the base of his neck.  His sharp green eyes abruptly searched around the master suite, fingers shaking over the trigger.  He had been careful.  Scanners revealed that the population had plummeted since that day ten years ago.  No one had dared to discover him since then.  This perpetrator must have followed him from his last place of residence, some ghastly planet in the Outer Rim.

 

"Show yourself!" he shouted, pointing the blaster toward the darkness of the suite.

 

It was a brief moment before a cloaked figure emerged, their lean figure bathed in moonlight as they stepped closer to Hux.  Gingerly, the hood was shrugged off, and the soft white light illuminated her bald head, the horns that thrust through her skull, and those piercing red eyes.  Hux felt the blood running through his veins still, and his hands stopped shaking.  

 

The Zabrak was a Knight of Ren.

 

"You..." he sputtered, "...you're still here?"

 

A bitter smile grew upon Brax Panne's face until her offbeat chuckle broke through the illusion. "Of course, we're still here! The ones you named the freaks, the monsters, the bizarre..." She stepped towards Hux delicately, allowing every word to ferment in his soul. "After the tragedy, after the master disappeared, after the fire that consumed everything...where else could we exist but here?"

 

Hux choked on every word that erupted from that thing.  As thousands of questions ran rampant in his mind, he noticed with dread that the Force-user was holding him in place with her mind, as if he was a doll, a plaything for her amusement.  He could not even part his lips.

 

She clicked her tongue sardonically, shifting her gaze from his terrified eyes to the landscape before them. "This place...it was your dream, wasn't it?"

 

_His dream...our dream!_

 

With a soft laugh, Brax's hand neared his head to invade his memories.  Hux could not bring himself to guard his mind, as Snoke had instructed him many years ago, for he was far too old and completely off guard. "Do you still remember how it was? Remember...?"

 

 _How could he not?_   Painfully, he watched as every fantasy was sprung free from the privacy of his mind. His Phantasma, agleam, drenched with light, beckoning...always beckoning...became hers.  

 

Brax's smile turned soft, her eyes darting as she sifted through his recollections. "Fascinating.  All of the galaxy.  Beggars squatting by billionaires.  Eyes aflame.  Desperate for pleasures yet unknown.  Night and day.  Pouring in by the hundreds of thousands.  Swept away as if their every desire was made real."

 

Hux's being screamed for this torment to end, his final mental defences refusing to succumb to the power of the young Knight.  He couldn't let her in completely, not if he desired to escape with his head on his shoulders.

 

Her eyes narrowed. "Hiding from me?   _Me_?  You know better, Armitage."

 

She pushed through with a faint hush, while on Hux's end, he experienced the greatest agony of his life, the sensation of being stripped and peered at far too great.  Her face settled into a content expression to watch the secrets she uncovered, but mere moments in, she gasped with the fervour of a dying man.  "It was you."

 

Her hand relented to cup her neck, her figure stepping as far away from Hux as possible to the opposite end of the balcony.  He dropped to his knees, gathering the little remains of his sanity that still lingered as she watched in disgust. "It was always you." she spat.

 

Silence.

 

As another cool breeze passed over the pair, Brax finally breathed, long and deep, and her tense shoulders released from its state of perpetual intensity.  As her eyes, red as the dawn, rediscovered Hux's, they were filled by something else entirely from before.  Something that made him know, that everything from this point on, would change.

 

"You filthy bastard."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to interact with me on Twitter (@classickylo) for more updates and content regarding this fic. Thank you so much for reading!


	2. Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're the strongest Jedi in the galaxy! How could anybody compare to you?" 
> 
> "One came close." she murmured, her mind travelling to a very different time, a very different war, and a very different man.

_**\--44 ABY--** _

 

Within the planet of Bespin, in an apartment overlooking Cloud City, Rey heard a crash.

  

The sound was so abrupt, so foreign, that it woke her from gentle sleep.  These moments where she would be caught so off guard were rare nowadays, and they always managed to strike a nerve within her.  Her eyes flipped open as she ran the possibilities for the disturbance in her head, her thoughts ranging from a maintenance issue to a First Order invasion.  Keeping the latter in mind, her fingers instinctively sought the lightsaber that held a permanent spot at her bedside, next to her dictionary and treasured Jedi texts, and fastened it to her waist.  It was while she reached out with her mind that she realized, with horror, that the sound came from the other side of the wall.  With her swift legs, quicker than the Falcon, she darted right out of her room, sensing for any nearby danger in the mere seconds it took for her to open his door and peer in.  

  

He gasped at the sight of her, just as she gaped at what she saw.  Laid, all around him on the floor, were various shards of glass of every type of color.  Scrapes and cuts decorated his thin legs, and the blood that dripped from him was thick and dark.  He was a mess.

 

"Gavyn!" 

  

He was her son.

  

"I know how this looks!" Gavyn tried to stand up, but his knees wobbled under the pain of his wounds, and he defeatedly dropped to the ground with a wince.  "You always talk about practising to become a better Jedi, and there was no way I could sleep just  _thinking_  about how today's Force session went badly, but I didn't mean to break anything, Mother, I promise..."

 

With a twitch of her finger, Rey swiftly rose the shards of glass and set them into a pile on the far end of the room whilst her child watched her in amazement.  She then turned her attention towards the gashes, pressing her palms gently over his skin.  Quietly, she concentrated her entire being, sending all of her happiness, all of her gratitude, and all of her love for that boy towards fixing the damage.  As the familiar warmth was exchanged from her end, his hazel eyes found hers, and she relished in observing his evident pain dilute into something heartfelt and appreciative.  There was nothing he could hide with those eyes.

 

As she grew close to finishing, she released the breath she didn't know she was holding and offered her son a tense chuckle.  "Just...what exactly were you doing?"

 

"I..." The kid turned his small head towards the pile of glass, returned to his mother's expectant gaze, and then bowed in shame.  Rey's heart twisted at the sight, and she couldn't help but gently lift his tiny chin with one hand.

  

"You said you were disappointed today? With our Force session?"

 

 Gavyn nodded, tears edging close around the brims of his eyes.

 

 "Why is that? I thought you did wonderfully today."

 

 "But the...." he inhaled deeply, attempting to gather himself, "the goal was to lift ten bottles at once, and I could only lift one."

 

 "Lifting one thing with your mind is extraordinary at your age." Rey smiled, using the hand that held his chin to ruffle his dark brown curls.  "I couldn't lift anything when I was eight years old."

 

 "But, it was different for you."  Gavyn's hand curled into a fist, as it always did at the mentioning of Rey's past.  Her times of loneliness affected him much more profoundly than his own.  "You didn't know you had the Force then."

 

 "That's true, " she admitted, sending an extra boost of energy to him as she ended the healing period.  She patted his regenerated skin, and he automatically fixed his position so that he was sitting cross-legged in her direction. "Yet, I still believe that I would have never succeeded.  Jakku couldn't boast the presence of any Jedi masters."

 

He looked up at her.  "Now they do."

 

Rey laughed, bringing Gavyn close so she could kiss the top of his head.  His hair smelled youthful, like freshly watered blossoms or sunshine whose intent wasn't to swelter one to the bone. "You flatter me too much."

 

He focused up toward her face, shaking in disbelief.  "You're the strongest Jedi in the galaxy! How could anybody compare to you?" 

 

Rey rested her back against the bed frame, looking out the window to spot the scarlet rays of dawn flooding through Cloud City.  "One came close." she murmured, her mind travelling to a very different time, a very different war, and a very different man.

  

Gavyn watched her mind retreat into the space she often neglected and gently pressed her mind with the Force as a reminder that he was here.  She blinked twice, three times, looked down at her wrist, and then came back to her son.  "What I'm saying, Gavyn, is that you are more powerful than you know.  Your strength will develop as you age."

 

"But what if Kylo Ren finds out that the Resistance is here tomorrow?  What if he kidnaps you and rips your mind apart?  What if he forces you to become a Sith?"

 

"Gavyn..."

 

"What if I'm unable to protect you?" he cried out, tears finally splashing down his face. "What if he hurts you again and I'm not strong enough to save you?"

 

Rey sighed.  She knew exactly where to place the blame for these over-exaggerated stories, and she would be sure to give him a piece of her mind after the meeting later today.  But, that was later.  Now, all could she do was open her arms to hold and console her emotional son. "You've already saved me." she whispered.

  

She felt his chest rumble against hers as he groaned, and the arms that wound around her neck grew tighter.  "You know what I mean, Mother."

 

The smile that bloomed upon her face was genuine, and she kissed his head once more before her playful tone grew more serious.  "If this... is something that is truly troubling you, I'll help.  We can do more thorough training together so you can get extra practice.  I can't promise you quick results, but I know that, in time, you will be able to defend yourself on a more physical level."

 

"But, I want to help you now. I don't want to be a..." his mind frantically searched for the right word, "...a liability.  The mind shield trick isn't going to help me forever."

 

She gripped his shoulders steadily.  "That mind shield trick will carry you far, Gavyn.  Don't ever doubt it.  That door opens yourself to the best type of fighting." She sighed, and her arms once more found themselves wound around her son. "And, as a matter of fact, for as long as I live, you will never be a liability to me."

 

He glimpsed downward once more, rubbing his eyes tentatively. "And...and you?"

 

"Hey, I'm the strongest Jedi in the galaxy, remember?  I'll take down anybody who tries to harm you and I.  Don't worry about me."

 

Gavyn's body relaxed in her arms, and his shoulders slumped with the release of a long yawn.  He stayed there for a comfortable moment until he posed his final question. "What about Father?"

 

Rey felt her body stiffen.  "What about him?"

 

He rested his head on the elongated incline of her shoulder.  "You'll take down anybody who wants to hurt him, too."

 

She quieted for a minute, choosing to pick up Gavyn rather than to speak.  His body, so light, so fragile, fit perfectly in her arms, just as he did at the moment of his birth.  That was the moment she knew he was the first thing that would ever be undeniably hers.  Rey ached to imagine any harm coming to her small son.  The light escaping into the room was turning more vibrant by each fleeting moment, gathering upon her son's exhausted face as she bent to tuck him into bed. "Of course.  I'll defend him to the end."

 

He grinned, the brilliance of every star in existence present in the curve of his lips.  "I love you, Mother."

  

Rey returned his smile and stroked his face tenderly, following his dark brows down to the light sprinkling of freckles that kissed his nose and cheeks.  "I love you, too.  Get some rest.  I'll let you sleep in today, but it means we'll work twice as hard tomorrow."  As she stood, she lifted the pile of glass from the corner to follow her out of the room, half-smiling as Gavyn observed her with awe.  "Lifting rocks." she winked.

 

His eyes soon trailed off, succumbing to the enticing dreams of his own little world.

 

☾

 

Quietly, before heading out of the complex, she opened the door to her bedroom.  At the sight of his bare back rising with occasionally labored snores, draped in the white sheets that she clung to hours ago in a desperate attempt at sleep, she closed it right back.  She didn't expect anything less; Poe couldn't be bothered with anyone or anything while he slept.

 

Rey headed outside to the terrace that was slowly giving way to the morning's early light.  Closing her eyes, she concentrated the remnants of her willpower into crushing the glass remnants into sand that spilt on the rails of the balcony.  The wind gently greeted her with kisses before picking up the sand to take it to wherever the wind went on Bespin. Thoughtful, she ran her fingers through the grains, allowing it to gather between her fingers, slip out, and then join their companions in the air.

 

At the sight of Gavyn, surrounded by destruction, she almost followed the mistake of Master Luke.  She feared that her worst nightmare had come true, that the beautiful light that exudes throughout her child was diminished by the tendrils of darkness, and was prepared to act if necessary.  Unlike Luke, however, she remembered who she was, who Gavyn was, and put aside her anxiety to tend to her son accordingly.  She couldn't afford to lose Gavyn to her personal suspicions or to watch him walk away from her in disgust.  He was her life, her joy, and the only person she could talk to anymore.

 

It was in moments like these that she really missed Finn.  Right now, she knew he would ask, with a laugh and a pained glance at the sand, why she would bring Jakku to them while they were trying to free themselves from it. Then, he'd most likely envelop her in a warm hug, filled without judgement of her past, confusion in her present, or fear for her future.  He would trust her, through her reasons for doing things, and she couldn't have asked for anything more.

 

Rey also wondered what Rose would say if she were here.  She'd scoop a handful of the sand and blow it into Finn's face, her body enamored with giggles as Finn would spit it all out, and dash after her with vengeful intent.  Rey knew that Rose wouldn't throw any sand her way, however, because Rey would automatically retaliate with the armada of a thousand balls of sand.  Rose would most likely offer her the most knowing of glances, secretly telling her that everything would be alright, and if she needed to talk, she'd be there.  The galaxy didn't deserve Rose Tico. 

 

She longed to have them both here with her again, although she knew she was a fool to long after impossible things. 

 

Rose and Finn were never coming back.  Several times she's tried to reach out and find them, but every attempt left her with a sense of emptiness.  In a moment of desperation, Rey even enlisted Gavyn to help her once he grew confident in his Force abilities, but his search was as fruitless as hers.  Eventually, Poe wore her down on the issue, and she stopped looking. 

 

She never did stop hoping.

 

The wind found Rey once more, blowing a long strand of chestnut hair across her cheek.  She really needed new friends.

 

"Internal rants are all I have," she muttered as the sun finally peeked its face over the skyscrapers.  She closed her eyes as she let the morning heat soak into her skin, her hair, and her soul.  It felt nice.

 

She sighed, the weight of nearly thirty years of life pressing down on the knots of her shoulders.  Admittedly, she never thought she would live this long.  Perishing in the sands of Jakku seemed to be her fate until that day, ten years ago, when little BB-8 rolled into her life.  Meeting Finn soon followed.  Then all these other interesting characters entered, threatening her simple ways and challenging her to change for the better.  Han, Leia, Luke, Rose...

 

_Kylo._

 

Ah, he was always there, in the farthest reaches of her mind, in the part of herself she wished to erase and never think of again.  He found his way into her thoughts again, and the image of those dark, haunted brown eyes penetrated her through an inescapable lens.  She still has his face memorized, from the waves of his black hair to the scar that tore from his cheek to his chest.  Most likely, he looks different from the last time she saw him; he refuses to do any form of galaxy broadcasts to maintain a reputation built on fear and mystery.  He has Hux to dictate all of his public physical matters.  She couldn't stop herself from thinking about how he felt about things, and her mind nearly burst with the endless questions she still had for him.

 

In one blow, Rey slapped the last bits of sand off the balcony, engulfed by the rage in remembering the man she promised she would forget.

 

☾

 

Cyan hues, filled with clean radiance, bathed the dining chamber with an undeniable beauty. One man sat alone, his body hunched over the table, when she walked in.  Poe's eyebrow lifted at the sight of Rey, a unique vision in her red silk morning robe and sand-ridden hair, entering the chamber for breakfast.  They quietly shared a nod of acknowledgement as she briskly took her place next to his, the left of the head of the table, and awaited her meal to find her.  She kept her eyes towards the wall-length window that exuded the brilliance of Cloud City.  It didn’t matter that Rey had been off of Jakku for ten years already;  ships streamlining through the clouds to find whatever destination awaited them on the other side still enchanted her, deep down to her core. 

 

Taking one cautious bite of his waffle, he took one more scan of her appearance before offering his thoughts. "What's...this new hairdo about?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"It doesn't look like nothing, Rey."

 

She turned to face Poe and offered him a tight smile.  Her hand reached out for his that laid on the table, and squeezed it gently with all the goodwill she could muster within herself at that moment.  "Gavyn had an accident last night, and I was cleaning up after him."

 

He snorted, turning his face down to continue eating his breakfast.  She paused as she caught view of the multiplying grey hairs that tainted the roots of his wavy hair, a physical reminder of how long they've labored together.  It was easy to forget sometimes, to forget that she's spent a third of her life in this exact position...by his side. "Tell me how exactly the kid managed to find _sand_  in Cloud City."

 

"It's too long of a story.  Don't worry about it.  Worry about the meeting with the Baron Administrator."

 

He sighed, leaning back into his seat while he ran a hand across the ageing lines of his forehead, confirming her success in pivoting the conversation.  "It's already confusing enough that this man invites us here, completely out of the blue, stating that he has confidential information that he can only discuss in person.  Then, he doesn't even meet us at our arrival yesterday, leaving us far too exposed for my taste.  I don't know what his game is.  The people here don't even know _who_ he is."

 

 As the doors opened, the bodies of Poe and Rey stilled and straightened, expecting the presence of the very man that they were deliberating about.  However, it was a mere servant droid, bringing a small platter of steaming waffles for the unknowingly starving woman.  She smiled and thanked the droid before it left them alone once more.  Catching Rey's devouring stare at the plate, Poe gently slid a bottle across the space between them.

 

"What's that?"

 

"You'll like it, I promise.  Just pour it over."

 

Drenched in the strange, thick liquid, the waffles glistened in the soft Bespin light.  With one singular bite, Rey felt immense sensations of warmth and sweetness that couldn't bear to name; she had never savoured such perfection before.  Usually, when the Resistance is hopping from planet to planet, she's forced to resort to simple ration packets that could never quite hit the mark with its taste.  This, however, was truly a treat for her.  She couldn't imagine Gavyn's reaction to such a delicacy; he was as inexperienced as her when it came to the diversity of food.  She gave a thankful look to Poe, to which he returned with a smile, and she dove in with more bites.  

 

His smile evaporated as quickly as it appeared and he sat back further in his chair, neglecting to hide the disappointment in his voice.  "Eat slower, please, Rey.  We can't have the Baron seeing you like this if by chance he visits us soon." his gaze returned to the sand in her hair, to which he clicked his tongue thoughtfully.  "You might want to clean yourself up too.  Speaking of the Baron, I want you to be fully prepared for whatever he throws at you.  I know you read up on Cloud City customs while we headed here, but I need you to also be..." 

 

"Professional." Rey stated simply, putting her fork down as she chewed without much enthusiasm.  "You've been telling me that for the past ten years."

 

He didn't reply to that immediately.  Instead, he turned his body and firmly gripped her shoulder with a squeeze.  "You always are, but please, add a little extra this time.  I don't know if we're facing a friend or foe this time around, and it's unsettling."

  

She wasn't in the mood to argue with him today, so she nodded, which was always enough for him, and absent-mindedly returned to her meal.  He sighed, tilting his head towards the ships that flew around outside, hiding the nostalgic fascination that arose from his soul well.

 

After a few minutes, the doors opened once more for the servant droid, who bore a message instead of another meal.  "The Baron-Administrator of Cloud City will meet with you now in his office!"

 

The couple waved off the droid before dashing to their room.  Rey's fingers itched for the familiar white garb that hung in the farthest reaches of the closet, but Poe clicked his tongue knowingly, his attention split between her fashion choices and stuffing his blaster with ammunition.  Her face falling into familiar impenetrability, she grabbed the sleeveless, tighter ensemble instead. A long, navy blue dress with black detailings passively flung around her body.  It was a gift from Leia for Rey's first political meeting many years ago and, no matter her own feelings toward it, the dress was a safe option for meetings such as this.  It screamed elegance, refinement, and nobility: all of the things Rey could never have but wanted anyway.  

 

While Poe finished his touch-ups in the mirror, Rey took a short moment to check in on her son.  He was still asleep, his small chest rising and lowering ever so slightly as proof that he was far deep into his slumber.  She smiled, closing the door on Gavyn and his happy dreams.

 

She met with Poe at the door to the Baron Administrator's office, and, sensing his anxiety level rising, took his hand.  Despite all of the turmoil they've had, the endless conversations without any satisfaction, the hidden secrets behind the other's door, they were still partners in this battle for the galaxy.  Rubbing her thumb against his palm, she could still feel the hidden callouses etched beneath their skin.  Hers had been born under the labor of training; his had manifested from gripping the steers of his ships so tightly.

 

She had no one else to turn to anymore. 

 

"Don't be afraid." she murmured.  "I feel it too."

 

Reuniting with her eyes, he offered her a solid nod and, with the opening of the doors, husband and wife walked as one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Rey's dress.](https://i.imgur.com/ORRUX2v.jpg)


End file.
